Latch seat for knitting needle

ABSTRACT

The latch seat is formed by displacing laterally inwardly into the latch slot a portion of one side or a portion of both sides of the blade.

United States Patent 1191 Sgrillo Jan. 22, 1974 LATCH SEAT FOR KNITTINGNEEDLE 1,991,140 2/1935 Currier 66/122 3,031,867 5/1962 W' d h t t l.66/121 [75] Invent: John Torrmgmn Conn- 1,433,123 11/1921 13;; 66/122[73 A i The Ton-ington Company, 3,453,845 7/1969 Blackwell 66/121Torrington, Conn.

[22] Filed; Ju|y 18, 1972 Primary Examiner-W. C. Reynolds AssistantExaminerA. M. Falik 1 1 p NO-I 272,730 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-David W.Tibbott et a1.

52 us. c1. 66/121 [51] 1m. 0...; D04b 35/04 1 ABSTRACT [58] Field ofSearch 66/121, 122 The latch Seat is formed by displacing laterallywardly into the latch slot a portion of one side or a [56] ReferencesClted portion of both sides of the blade.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,022,651 2/1962 Oberem 66/122 2 Claims, 5 DrawingFigures 1 LATCH SEAT. FOR KNITTING NEEDLE This invention relates tolatch needles for knitting machines. More particularly, this inventionis a new latch seat.

Modern knitting machines operate at great speeds. Improved modernknitting needles with new functional features may now be used at speedswhich would have destroyed the knitting needles made only a few yearsago.

In the normal operation of the latch in a latch knitting needle, thelatch is rotated about a pivot from the closed position where it strikesinto the hook to the open position where it strikes against the blade.This rotation is extremely fast in modern equipment and the blows aresufficiently hard to cause extreme wear conditions and often actualbreakage.

Those skilled in the art of knitting needle making concentrate theirefforts to improve latch knitting needles into three basic groups.

The first group is concentrating on making the blade stronger or theblow of the latch lighter. Thicker needles, variations of slots to leavemore metal also lighter or shorter latches and special latch materialshave been used to lessen the blow of the latch. Special heat treatmentshave all been used, also.

The second group is concentrating their effort on the latch itself. Thearea of the latch which contacts the blade is specially shaped toincrease the area of contact and to change the angle of the forcesimparted to the blade.

The third group is concentrating their effort on the latch seat. TheU.S. Pat. to Wiederhut, et al. No. 3,031,867 issued May 1, 1962 shows anexample of a latch seat resulting from the efforts of this third group.However, the Weiderhut latch seat, since it is formed by milling, isdifficult to manufacture properly, weakens the blade sides by displacingmetal material from the sides and at best provides a thin weak seat.

My invention is a result of my efforts to improve the latch seat.Briefly described, my invention is a latch needle for knitting machineshaving a blade with a slot, and a latch pivotally arranged in the slot.The latch seat is formed by displacing laterally inwardly into the slotat least a portion of one side of the blade.

The invention as well as its many advantages, may be further understoodby reference to the following detailed description and drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a commonly used latch knitting needle showingwhat is commonly referred to as the head and blade area;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the manner of laterallydisplacing one side of the blade FIG. 4 is a side view of a portion ofthe new latch needle after the seat has been formed by the method ofFIG. 3;

and FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the displacement of bothsides of the blade.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, the latch needle includes a hook 10 onthe end of a blade 12. A latch 14 rotates about the pivot 16 connectedacross a slot 18 formed in the blade 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the slot 18divides the blade into blade sides 20 and 22.

A method of forming my new latch seat is illustrated in FIG. 3. Thepunch 24 supported by punch support 26 has an inclined surface 28. Theinclined surface partially shears the blade side 20 and provides acontrolled angular displacement inwardly into the slot 18 of a portionof the blade side 20. This provides a seat 30 in the slot 18 which latch14 contacts in the open position. The punch is positioned to locate thetop 32 surface of seat 30 to provide proper contact with the latch, asshown in FIG. 4. The seat contacting portion of the latch 14 is the sameshape as the top surface of the seat 30.

In FIG. 5 a second punch 34 supportd by punch support 36 and having aninclined surface 38 is used to laterally displace a portion of the bladeside 22, thus, providing a second seat member 40.

In both the modification of FIG. 3 and the modification of FIG. 5, thefree ends of the displaced blade sides extend substantially across theslot 18 and the base of the seats are integral with and co-extensivewith the corresponding blade side.

Among the many advantages of my invention is that a solid seat havingastrong inwardly sloping surface oriented to match the latch isprovided. Also, the sides of the blade above the seat are not weakenedbecause the seat is not formed by a milling operation and no metalmaterial is removed from the sides of the blade above the seat toprovide the seat.

1 claim:

1. In a latch needle for knitting machines having a blade with a slotand a latch pivotably arranged in the slot, the improvement comprising:

a partially sheared portion of at least one side of the blade bentinwardly and perpendicularly to the blade axis to form a free end whichforms a latch seat extending substantially across the slot and the baseof the seat is co-extensive with said one side of the blade.

2. An improved latch needle in accordance with claim 1 wherein the seatcomprises:

a partially sheared portion of the other side of the blade bent inwardlyand perpendicularly to the blade axis so that the free end extends intothe slot with the base of said sheared portion being coextensive withits corresponding side of the blade, the free ends of the partiallysheared portions together forming a latch seat extending substantiallyacross the slot.

1. In a latch needle for knitting machines having a blade with a slotand a latch pivotably arranged in the slot, the improvement comprising:a partially sheared portion of at least one side of the blade bentinwardly and perpendicularly to the blade axis to form a free end whichforms a latch seat extending substantially across the slot and the baseof the seat is co-extensive with said one side of the blade.
 2. Animproved latch needle in accordance with claim 1 wherein the seatcomprises: a partially sheared portion of the other side of the bladebent inwardly and perpendicularly to the blade axis so that the free endextends into the slot with the base of said sheared portion beingco-extensive with its corresponding side of the blade, the free ends ofthe partially sheared portions together forming a latch seat extendingsubstantially across the slot.